


Isn't It Obvious?

by kitkatdimples



Category: Hotel Stars สูตรรักนักการโรงแรม | Hotel Stars The Series (TV)
Genre: Awkward Romance, M/M, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Requited Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25531405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatdimples/pseuds/kitkatdimples
Summary: Kin has a problem.  That problem is Pong.
Relationships: Pong Pitsanupong Limchareontong/Kin Varakin Thiengtrong
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> * Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from Hotel Stars The Series, which belongs to its respective owners.
> 
> * This is written with Kimmon, playing as Kin, and Copter, playing as Pong, in mind.

**Chapter 1**

Kin thinks that he has a problem. 

As of late, it's kind of coming at him as the serious type, the sort of problem that he can't just try to shove to the back of his head and pretend to ignore until the end of time. He knows because he's done just that, and it doesn't seem to be working at all. In fact, it seems to taunt him by getting worse with each and every passing second. 

"Kin, could you get my back for me?"

The question that he's been dreading all day punches him hard in the gut, making him draw in a sharp breath. 

Uneasily, Kin shifts his gaze to his roommate, who is staring back at him expectantly. As usual, Pong has his shirt partly rolled up, revealing his very naked back. Kin's widened eyes unconsciously flicker to the expanse of milky white skin ahead of him, which looks so tantalizingly smooth and soft. Well, he knows for a fact that it is because he has first hand experience with touching that silky skin, given that he's been rubbing lotion on Pong's back almost every night since they became roommates. 

Kin gulps.

"I can't!" Kin eventually yells in a roaring volume.

Pong jumps at his sudden ear-splitting yelp, his mouth slightly hanging open as he gapes at him. 

_Shit._

Mentally cursing at himself for acting like a dysfunctional idiot, Kin frantically tries to come up with a good excuse. 

"I'm...uhh...still traumatized. You know. By the whole online selling thing. With cream. Yeah, cream! Cream...seeing cream makes me feel sad. Really sad," Kin stammers without stopping.

He cringes, recognizing that he just sounded like a moron, before clamming up. In the ensuing silence, Pong settles his gaze on him, the confused look on his face steadily turning into one of blatant concern. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," Pong apologizes after a short while, his sincere voice oozing with regret. "I didn't know it was that bad." 

Now Kin feels like a grade-A jerk, but he's pretty sure that's way better than being a horny pervert, which would inevitably happen if he decides to take back his words and help Pong with his nightly skincare routine. Seeing a frown work its way across Pong's face is starting to crumble his resolve, though, so he does the first thing that pops up in his head that would get him out of his pickle. 

"It's okay! I'm just...uhh...gonna call it a night now."

Without further ado, Kin instantly lays on his bed and yanks all the covers on top of himself so that he's completely buried from head to toe. He probably just made Pong feel a whole lot worse and wants to violently smack himself for doing so (and definitely would have if Pong hadn't been in the room there with him). 

After a few quiet minutes, he hears a set of hushed footsteps followed by the sound of the light switch turning off. 

"Good night, Kin."

Pong's soft whisper floats into Kin's ears and sets his heart off fluttering. He panics briefly, thinking that it's literally impossible for Pong to not hear his wild heartbeats when they're thundering so freaking loudly. 

"Good night, Pong," Kin manages to say back after finding himself unable to calm the fuck down. 

It's going to be another hell of a night for him, where he'll keep trying to figure out what to do about his potential problem instead of sleeping like he should, but he wishes that Pong doesn't share his fate and sleeps well. Pong has to wake up early in the morning for his duties in the reception department, and he's the type of person who cannot function at all without a decent amount of sleep. 

Although, to be honest, Kin actually wouldn't mind witnessing a sleepy Pong because he puts on this grumpy pout that's so freaking adorable and makes him want to pinch those squishy cheeks and pull them in towards him so that he can kiss those lush rosy lips forever... 

He freezes when he realizes how shameless his thoughts are becoming and then desperately attempts to shoo them away before they enter into more embarrassing realms. Seriously, he refuses to be that guy who pops a boner while fantasizing about his sleeping roommate. 

_No fucking way._

***

Kin admits that he has a problem.

He's falling for his roommate Pong, so fucking hard that it's almost bordering creepy at this point.

Although he has no clue how to go about his problem, Kin is trying his best to act as normal as possible for the time being. He knows Pong only thinks of him as a friend, his closest one out of all the interns, and Kin genuinely takes great pride in that fact. Unrequited love put aside, he really doesn't want to lose that special status in Pong's life just because he's crushing on the guy.

Right now, he's eagerly searching for Pong, whose whereabouts are currently unknown to him. It's their break time and, given that they've been separated into different departments for the rest of their internship, this is the only opportunity that he has to see Pong in the daytime from now on. 

He misses him. Ever since he's sort of accepted his feelings for Pong, it's like he misses him all the time and can't seem to stand a second without him. Of course, they'll undoubtedly end up meeting each other in the evening since they're roommates who sleep in the same room, but that's way too far away and he really can't wait that fucking long. 

Kin visibly perks up when he finally spots Pong in the hotel's majestic gardens, casually sitting next to Akk on one of the wooden benches. His face breaks out into an excited smile as he's about to approach them, his mouth parting to playfully announce his arrival. Yet, Akk's abrupt holler throws him off, making him hold back. 

"Well, Pong, do you?!"

Baffled, Kin peers at the pair to closely analyze the situation ahead of him. 

Pong looks so unbelievably beautiful and handsome like he always does, the tailored royal blue uniform fitting his figure in such a flattering way and his mahogany hair swaying gracefully in the breeze... 

With a frustrated sigh, Kin takes a moment to blame his stupidly lovesick heart for trying to mess up his important investigation. If he wants to accurately read the situation, he needs to examine the scene as a neutral bystander who's not at all smitten by one of the people under his scrutiny. After successfully shushing his goddamn ditzy heart, he proceeds to inspect them again. 

Akk looks quite impatient as he's fixing his determined gaze on Pong, who appears a little taken aback and uncertain about whatever they were discussing just now. 

Kin narrows his wary eyes, his observations leading him to the conclusion that Pong and Akk are having a pretty serious conversation at the moment. It looks like an exchange where Akk seems to be attempting to fish some private information out of Pong. 

He automatically shoots a displeased glare at Akk, feeling simultaneously annoyed and threatened because he didn't know that the two of them were that close. He was under the impression that, out of everyone in the hotel, he was the only one who had and would have any intimate conversations with Pong. 

His growing curiosity, though, ultimately wins over all his other emotions. Kin gets the feeling that they'll stop having the conversation if he appears, so he hurriedly conceals himself behind a nearby pillar and positions himself in a manner that will let him spy on them. Naturally, he tells himself that this is totally different from all the spying that's been going on between the interns and of which he's been openly critical. 

Of course it's different. 

"Oh, you were being serious?" Pong counters back. 

Akk scoffs. "No duh?"

"Okay fine," Pong concedes, although not all the way. An agitated scowl crawls across his face. "But how the fuck did you reach that dumb conclusion?"

"It's not dumb!" Looking offended, Akk flails his hands in the air like a crazy person. "Pong, everyone's thinking the same thing because you're being so obvious! Lately, you've been staring at Nook all the time and trying to find ways to talk to her. And then you're always glaring at Nook and Valen whenever you see them together. Like some jealous boyfriend!"

Pong rapidly blinks at Akk's rather dramatic outburst, looking like he's just been caught off guard. 

Anxiously chewing on his lips, Kin watches them with nerve-wrecking apprehension. Although Pong already explained his strained situation with Nook to him earlier, he's suddenly terrified that it might be the case that Pong didn't tell him everything. 

_What if it turns out that Pong actually has feelings for Nook?!_

Just when Kin feels like he's going to explode from all the tense waiting, Pong finally breaks the silence. 

"No, I don't like Nook."

Relief sweeping over him like a tsunami, Kin lets out the breath that he didn't even know he'd been holding in. He barely refrains himself from doing a rowdy victory dance because he's technically still supposed to be in hiding, but he does allow a toothy grin to surface. 

"You're lying," Akk accuses in an instant, clearly not buying Pong's answer. 

"Why would I be lying?" Pong asks back. He hesitates for a second before launching into a full-fledged explanation. "I kinda got into a fight with Nook and been trying to make up with her ever since. I like her as a friend and want to continue being friends with her, but that's it." 

"Pong, you can just tell me the truth."

Kin rolls his eyes, feeling irked that Akk isn't backing down. Pong definitely wouldn't outright lie to anyone because, truth be told, he's the type who's pretty honest to a fault. He considers coming out of his cover and interrupting their conversation now so that he can save Pong from Akk's further questioning, but Pong's next words change his mind.

"Akk, can you keep a secret?"

_A secret?_

Kin momentarily glowers at Akk, who's nodding enthusiastically back at Pong. He feels unhappy once again at the fact that he might not be the only person here who Pong confides in, and he selfishly hopes that Pong is about to reveal information that he's already told him. He's not ready to lose his best-friend-in-the-Hotel-Stars-internship status to Akk or to anyone else. 

Disregarding his grumbling heart, Kin works his brain to sift through a million different predictions for what Pong might say next. A sense of fear slowly picks up again when he fixates on the slight possibility that Pong may retract his previous statements about Nook and confess that he actually likes her. 

But what ultimately escapes out of Pong's mouth is something that's completely unexpected and not a fact that he's been privy to. 

"I'm gay."

Pong's confession ambushes him, and judging by Akk's shocked expression, he's on the same boat as Kin. Well, honestly, Kin's not really paying attention to Akk's reaction because he's still trying to process what Pong just said. 

When Pong's statement fully sinks in, Kin's heart chooses to gallop away like there's no tomorrow, as if it's assuming some stupid shit that it really shouldn't be. Like how this might mean that his currently one-sided love could miraculously end up being not one-sided. Like how this might mean that he has a freaking chance with Pong.

Akk's sudden exclamation snaps him back into reality. "Then you like Valen?!"

Pong's jaw falls open. "What?" 

Kin wants to add on to Pong's very short remark and scream a WHAT-THE-FUCK-ARE-YOU-TALKING-ABOUT for extra emphasis, but he manages to stop himself just in time. 

"All this time, I thought you were jealous of Valen, but it was the other way around. You were jealous of Nook...because...because you have a crush on Valen!" Akk spells out, his voice gaining more and more confidence as he speaks. 

Kin snorts because that's just complete nonsense. 

Over the past several months of their internship, Pong and Valen rarely interacted. Heck, they almost never acknowledged each other unless absolutely necessary. Pong had even complained to him the other day about how freaking awkward he felt around Valen now that they were working together in the same department. So why in the world would Pong have a crush on Valen out of all people?! 

Smirking, Kin turns his eyes to Pong, expecting him to look disgusted or horrified (or something close to that), but his smile falls apart at what he takes in. 

Pong is cautiously biting his lower lip and scratching the back of his neck at the same time, which is a particular tell that Kin discovered about him during their time together. It's a tell for when Pong's feeling awfully shy and embarrassed about what he's going to say next. 

A feeling of panic bubbles up within him like bile. 

"Well, he is pretty cute..." Pong begins to confess with bashful hesitation.

_Fuck!_

Unable to stay for any longer, Kin immediately whips around, completely done with his session of secret spying. 

He's quite certain that he dropped his poor heart just now and left it splattered all over the floor, but he can't retrace his steps to go pick it up. He's way too busy dealing with all the excruciating pain that's attacking him with no pause, that keeps on assaulting him relentlessly as if its only goal is to force him to break down and cry. 

He doesn't give in just yet, but he's not sure how long he can fight against it. 

***


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kin denies that he has a problem.

Or, more like, he attempts to because, at this point, he's pretty desperate enough to hope that going back to the denial stage might help end his agonizing heartbreak. 

It's been a whole twenty-four hours since he learned that he's one of the participants in a shitty love triangle, and it still hurts like hell. He really doesn't know what to do to make the pain go away. He's already tried locking himself in the bathroom and crying his eyes out, but that just threw a throbbing headache onto his ever-growing pile of troubles.

So, as a last resort, Kin decides to try denying that he ever liked Pong in the first place. If he could convince himself that his heartache is actually based on a misconception, then maybe he could laugh the entire thing off as a dumb mistake and move the fuck on.

"Are you sure about this?" Golf asks him for the billionth time in the past couple of minutes.

Because patience is one of his many virtues, Kin gives Golf another nod instead of snapping back at him like he's a little tempted to. 

"Yeah, P'. I'm sure." 

"Okay," Golf finally says with a shrug. "Here's your iced Americano with no sugar."

Kin graciously accepts the cold drink from Golf, who now looks half-worried and half-amused. Before he could second-guess himself, he immediately brings it up to his mouth and gulps down a third of the coffee.

He gags.

_How the fuck does anyone drink this shit?!_

It literally tastes like poison. Well, okay, to be honest, Kin never had poison before, but he's almost positive that it would taste exactly like the nastiness that just entered his system.

Coughing uncontrollably, Kin desperately reaches out for the stash of napkins that are displayed on the café counter. He's grateful when Golf promptly helps him grab a few of them, even though he could hear Golf laughing hysterically at him while he does so. Kin roughly wipes the liquid off of his mouth as well as his tongue, hoping that he can rescue any taste buds that haven't already drowned in the vile bitterness.

At least all his current suffering is (supposed to be) serving an important purpose. Kin intentionally ordered Pong's favorite drink so that he can definitively prove to himself that he doesn't like Pong. There's just no way that he would have fallen for someone who drinks something this disgusting on a regular basis...right?!

While clearing his hoarse throat, Kin stares at the drink in his hand, trying to feel triumphant over his foolproof theory. It's difficult, though, because looking at the coffee makes him think about Pong. About all the times that Pong stood by his side and ordered his damn Americano. About how Pong always gave out the most divine dimpled smile whenever he drank the first sip of his coffee, making Kin want to buy Pong as many Americanos as he'd like as long as it meant that he could keep seeing him that beautifully happy. 

And yep, Kin just proved to himself that he is so fucking SCREWED. 

"Is that for me?"

Startled by the sudden voice, Kin snaps out of his thoughts and jerks his gaze to the right. He flinches when he sees Pong right next to him. Pong is looking pointedly at the coffee in Kin's hand before he meets Kin's eyes, his head slightly tilting sideways.

Breaking their eye contact in an instant, Kin tightens his grip around the cup. "No, it's mine," he mumbles faintly.

Subsequently, he puts on a face that hopefully makes him look super cool and collected and not at all like someone who was just spurting a shitload of coffee out of his mouth. After a short while, Kin chances a quick glimpse at Pong, who is giving him a quizzical look.

"Huh," Pong eventually says before shifting his full attention to Golf, who has finally stopped with his Kin-induced laughter. "P'Golf, can you make me an iced pink milk?"

Golf wears a puzzled expression. "Why are you guys switching things up today?" he wonders out loud, but he nonetheless proceeds to make Pong's drink.

Also wondering the same thing, Kin momentarily gapes at Pong. Well, he knows the reason behind his own actions, but he's not sure why Pong asked for a pink milk just now. Throughout their time together, Pong made it quite loud and clear that he doesn't like sweet things. He always shook his head in mock disgust whenever he caught Kin eating any sugary delights, pink milk included.

While Kin is attempting to figure out what is going on, Golf easily finishes making the drink and hands it over to Pong. Kin silently watches as Pong readily grabs the pink milk and takes a large sip.

Pong chokes.

Alarmed, Kin moves closer to Pong in a second flat, getting ready to save Pong's life by all means necessary. "Pong, are you okay?!"

To his utmost bewilderment, Pong shoots him a death glare, as if Kin just forced the pink milk down his throat against his will. "How the hell do you drink this stuff?!" he manages to yelp out in between incessant coughs. "It's too freaking sweet! Fuck, I think I just got a million cavities."

Although he's still worried about Pong and his well-being, Kin feels himself flaring up because Pong's words are pretty offensive to his pink-milk-loving-self. It's unacceptable for anyone to bash on what should be everyone's all-time favorite drink, even if the attacks are coming from the guy who he's been hopelessly crushing on for what seems like forever.

"As if your choice of drink is any better!" Kin yells back on reflex, madly gesturing to the Americano that he's still holding. "This crap should have a poison label on it."

"Give me that!" Pong snaps, looking furious.

Immediately, Pong steals the Americano out of Kin's hand and replaces it with his pink milk. He then pours nearly all of the coffee into his mouth before heaving out a satisfied sigh. 

Kin instantly retaliates by draining the rest of the pink milk down his throat in one go. An overwhelming sense of contentment hits him as the sweetness rushes inside his parted lips and washes away the bitter remains of coffee that were clinging onto his poor tongue.

He didn't think that he'd love pink milk even more than he already does, but that's exactly what happens.

"You feel better?"

Kin turns his gaze back to Pong and is taken aback when he sees Pong now smiling, with all traces of anger gone from his features.

That's when Kin realizes that Pong was actually trying to cheer him up this whole time. 

Engrossed in his own misery, Kin didn't make much of an effort to hide that he was feeling anything but happy in the past day. So Pong was bound to pick up on Kin's obviously depressed mood at some point, especially given that they're roommates sharing the same living space. 

It seems that Pong is following the same approach that he used back when he was trying to cheer Kin up after the epic failure of his online selling business. He's distracting Kin from thinking about his problems. 

On that night, right when Kin was sinking down to the very depths of his own self-hating hell, Pong yanked him back up by diverting his attention with his sudden actions. Out of the blue, Pong leaned in to tilt his chin up, gently pinched both of his cheeks and gifted him with one of his precious dimpled smiles. 

Pong's method worked, perhaps way too well. At that moment, Kin wasn't able to focus on anything other than the smiling Pong in front of his eyes, and he discovered that he had another problem, one that was much more pressing than his failed business. As he felt his heart wildly racing out of control, faster and faster for every second that passed with Pong in his sight, Kin realized that his feelings for Pong may have crossed the friendship line. 

"You're not ready for this adult stuff, Kin. So just stay with your kiddo drink there, okay?" Pong begins to tease. "And trust me, you look much better when you smile than when you look like you need to throw up."

Just like then, Pong succeeds in taking up all of Kin's focus. With a blinding smile aimed right at him, Pong is intently staring at Kin, his warm dark chocolate eyes twinkling under long lashes. At the heart-fluttering sight, Kin can't help but smile back at Pong, who looks so very relieved and delighted by Kin's happier reaction.

"See? Much better," Pong says while widening his grin. 

Pong lightly bumps his shoulder against Kin's and lets out the most adorable giggle when Kin returns the gesture with affection. 

All at once, a helpless realization dawns on Kin. There isn't and never will be a way to stop himself from falling in love with a person like Pong. 

_It's just impossible not to love him._

***

Kin hides that he has a problem.

He hopes that it's working because he really doesn't want his stupid feelings to get in the way of him enjoying the evening with Pong. His goddamn problem can wait until much later when he'll inevitably worry about what to do about it through another long sleepless night. 

At the moment, they're walking back to their room after eating dinner at their go-to noodle shop that's just a few blocks away from the hotel. 

Overall, Kin thinks that their meal was quite satisfying. On the grounds of feeling adventurous, Pong changed it up this evening and ordered spicy drunken noodles with seafood. Just in case Pong didn't like his meal, Kin chose to get Pong's favorite stewed beef noodle soup with meatballs instead of the pad see ew that he usually orders. They ended up trading their dishes because the drunken noodles turned out to be much spicier than what Pong could handle. Although Kin's also not really talented in the spicy food department, it was definitely worth bearing the pain when he saw Pong happily digging into his bowl of soup. 

Kin chuckles to himself as he remembers the sulky pout on Pong's face changing into a content smile as soon as he satisfied his taste palette. He can't decide which of the two is cuter and concludes that it's a close tie. 

"Kin," Pong says, breaking Kin away from his thoughts. 

"Hmm?"

"You know how I told you that I'm feeling adventurous today?"

Kin nods. "Yeah."

"Well," Pong continues, his slower walking coming to a halt. "I think I'm going to take one more risk tonight and tell you something. Something important."

Feeling slightly puzzled by Pong's random declaration, Kin follows suit and stops moving forward. He turns his body so that he's completely facing Pong, who looks strangely nervous as he gazes back at him. 

"Okay," Kin says. "I'm listening."

"It's...it's about something," Pong stutters. 

Kin feels a playful smile tugging at his lips. "Something important. Yeah, I think I got that part."

Pong laughs a little in response to Kin's teasing, but he still looks anxious. "It's actually about someone. Someone that I like. You know, like romantically."

Kin freezes, not having expected that topic to come up now. 

He helplessly observes Pong simultaneously biting his lower lip and scratching the back of his neck, and his mind drags him back to the last time that he saw Pong do that. When Pong was telling Akk about his feelings for Valen and unknowingly smashed Kin's heart into smithereens.

A fresh panic whirls inside him. He seriously can't handle another heartbreak right now, and he's certain that hearing the words directly from Pong would cause even more damage that won't heal.

"I know already!" Kin frantically blurts out before Pong could get another word in. 

Pong jumps at the sudden outburst. "What?"

"I know who you like," Kin clarifies, darting his eyes away from Pong. 

"Oh."

A few seconds of awkward silence crawl by them. Kin considers sprinting away to escape the situation until Pong speaks up again. 

"Was it that obvious?" Pong asks.

Kin reluctantly shifts his eyes back to Pong and feels his insides crumbling when he detects the makings of a blush painting Pong's skin. 

"Not really," Kin mutters.

It's true. He doubts that he would have found out about Pong's attraction to Valen on his own. The two rarely interacted, but Kin now knows that doesn't mean anything. He wishes that falling in love all depended on the length of time spent together because if that were the case, he'd have had a much better chance at capturing Pong's heart over Valen. It doesn't, though, at least not in Pong's world. 

"Umm...so? What do you think?"

Pong's next question creates a plethora of emotions that violently ambush him.

Initial surprise is immediately followed by overwhelming bitterness. He presumes that Pong is asking for his opinion on the matter because he considers Kin his best friend. He thought he'd be kind of happy that he still retained that special status in Pong's life, but he's not. He's far from feeling anywhere near happy. In fact, he's actually a bit angry, even though it's irrational to feel that way because it's not like Pong knows that he's stomping on all the broken pieces of Kin's heart right now. 

Kin can't endure the emotional torture any longer and ends up lashing out. 

"It won't work out," Kin says. "You know, it's...complicated."

Not entirely satisfied with his response, Kin's about to cruelly add that everyone assumes that Valen has an ongoing crush on Nook and suspects that the two of them will be dating anytime now, but Pong quickly cuts him off. 

"Okay, I understand," Pong whispers. 

Kin finally comes back to his senses when he catches the deep dejection in Pong's voice. A lump forms in his throat when he turns his eyes to Pong and reads his body language.

Pong looks crushed. 

Naturally, Kin feels like a jerk, but he doesn't do anything to redeem himself. He doesn't offer any words of comfort or reassurance. He doesn't make any promises about helping Pong by finding a way for him to hook up with Valen. He doesn't take on the role of a good friend, which is what Pong probably expected of him.

Although he hates himself for making Pong feel terrible, Kin really doesn't want Pong to be happy with Valen. He's just too fucking selfish. 

"I'm sorry, Pong," Kin instead says after a while.

Pong remains silent, his dismal face now cast down to the ground. 

***


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Kin hates that he has a problem.

For the past few days, Pong has been outright avoiding him, to the point where he even moved out of their room to stay with Toey at night. 

It's driving Kin insane.

At first, he thought that distancing himself from Pong would be best for the both of them. He already established that he's selfish as fuck, so he doesn't believe that he can faithfully remain as Pong's friend, as someone who can sincerely wish for Pong's happiness with a person other than himself. Heck, he even wondered whether staying away from Pong would help him fall out of love with him based on that old proverb ' _out of sight, out of mind_ '. It can't be a well-known saying for nothing.

Kin soon realizes that there's another famous saying, which means the complete opposite and seems to fit his situation much better. _Absence makes the heart grow fonder._ In his case, though, Pong's absence in his life makes his heart ache like hell, and it keeps lashing out at him and threatening to create havoc if he doesn't go see Pong right the fuck now.

Worn out from all the pain, Kin ends up giving into his heart's relentless threats.

He finds himself standing in front of Toey's room, feeling much like a loser. Or, actually scratch that, he knows that he's a loser. He's losing Pong from his life, and he now realizes that he can't let that happen. Kin's still fucking selfish and really doesn't want to see Pong being happy with anyone but himself, but he just can't lose Pong.

_He can't._

After taking in a couple of deep breaths, Kin cautiously presses the doorbell. A few tense seconds crawl by before the door finally swings open.

Toey is the one who greets him, and he doesn't appear at all surprised by Kin's random visit at this late hour. He's also effectively blocking Kin's view of the room, which makes it very difficult for Kin to tell whether Pong is inside. 

It's extremely nerve-wrecking.

"Hey Kin. What brings you here?" Toey asks, although he looks like he already knows Kin's answer.

"Hey Toey," Kin returns before cutting straight to the point. "Is Pong here?"

For a brief moment, Toey peers at him rather suspiciously, as if he's attempting to figure out Kin's hidden intentions, and Kin's anxiety grows exponentially by the second. 

"No," Toey answers at last, his tone slightly cranky. "But only because Pong told me to say that he's not here if you ever came by."

Subsequently, Kin hears someone yell an angry ' _what the fuck, Toey!_ ' from inside the room behind Toey. He instantly recognizes the voice as Pong's, which means that Pong is within a few feet from him at the moment. 

His heart splutters.

"What?" Toey says, fully swinging around to engage with Pong. "Come on, Pong, you can't avoid him forever!" Not giving Pong a chance to respond, Toey then turns back to face Kin. "I'm heading out now and won't be coming back for like an hour or so."

Kin kind of misses Toey's words because all of his attention is intensely focused on Pong, who he still can't see. "What?" he mumbles.

Toey releases an exasperated sigh. "I don't want to be in the middle of your dumb squabble," he says, irritation apparent in his voice. "So do all your fighting while I'm gone. Just keep it PG-13 in here, okay?!"

Shifting his focus back to Toey, Kin slowly blinks in confusion. Rolling his eyes, Toey starts to make his way out of the room.

"Like no maiming and chopping off anyone's limbs, that kind of stuff," Toey grumpily explains. "And no sex." 

_The fuck?!_

Rendered speechless, Kin feels a rush of heat spreading all over his body and up to his cheeks. He hears Pong scream out a horrified ' _Toey!_ ', to which Toey counters with a ' _What? You can't have sex in my room! Save it for yours!!!_ '

Kin thinks that maybe this isn't the best time to confront Pong. Yeah, definitely not when a flurry of inappropriate thoughts are bouncing around in his head.

He considers fleeing from the scene right now, but, unfortunately for him, Toey completely eliminates that option. As he heads out, Toey roughly shoves Kin inside the room and slams the door shut behind him. Totally unprepared, Kin stumbles in with flailing arms and legs, and he falls flat on his face.

"Kin! Are you okay?!"

He's not. 

Well, the physical damage is luckily a bare minimum, but this isn't how he imagined their long-awaited conversation to start out and he really just wants to melt into a puddle from all the excruciating embarrassment.

The shame is worth it, though, when Pong immediately helps him off the ground and examines him from head to toe, his entire face exuding worry. 

Kin silently stares at him, feeling his soul thrumming back to life from interacting with Pong again. He's aware that he's so freaking hopeless, but he doesn't really give a fuck at the moment, not when Pong is finally right here in front of him.

"I'm okay," Kin eventually whispers.

He regrets saying anything at all, though, when Pong meets his eyes and suddenly jerks away from him, as if he just realized that he was worrying over someone who didn't deserve his care. Pong steps back and avoids his gaze, confirming that the distance between them does indeed exist.

_It fucking hurts._

"Pong," Kin says. "Were you really planning on avoiding me forever?"

Pong still looks at anywhere but Kin, and his continuing silence feels like a yes. Fear viciously clawing at his insides, Kin chews on his lips. What if he isn't in the process of losing Pong but had already lost him and doesn't even have a chance to get him back?

"Are you that angry at me?" Kin asks, unable to repress the panic from seeping into his voice.

At that, Pong snaps his widened gaze back to Kin. "What?!" he says, appearing alarmed. "No, Kin. Why would I be angry at you?"

"For hurting you."

Looking like he's about to deny Kin's words, Pong instantly opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. Kin knows it's because Pong is way too honest. He keeps his eyes fixed on Pong, who eventually drops his gaze miserably, and Kin hates himself even more.

"I'm sorry, Pong," Kin apologizes.

After letting out a small sigh, Pong raises his head to meet Kin's gaze. "You have nothing to apologize for," he says softly. "It's my fault. I was being stupid. You were right. It wasn't going to work out, and I should have known that. No, I knew that, but I guess I just thought...maybe...that maybe...it would. So, yeah, I was hurt after our conversation and I needed some time to recover."

"I never wanted to hurt you, Pong. You're my...". Kin pauses for a split second before forcing the next words out. "Best friend."

"I know," Pong whispers, sounding like he's close to tears.

The lump in Kin's throat starts throbbing, making it hard for him to breathe. 

It's at that moment when Kin fully realizes that in a choice between his own happiness and Pong's, he prefers the latter. He was already destined to suffer for an eternity as soon as he found out that Pong didn't reciprocate his feelings, but that doesn't mean Pong has to share his hellish fate. Pong deserves to be happy, with or without him.

"I'm still sorry that I hurt you. I just...Pong, I just want things to go back to the way they were," Kin says in a trembling voice. "I miss you, Pong. My life isn't the same without you."

That's most of his truth, and the closest that he'll ever get to confessing his feelings to Pong. Kin shushes his goddamn heart that doesn't take a hint and keeps demanding to express all his love. He knows that he'll have to get used to caging his true feelings deep inside of himself if he wants to have Pong in his life.

In the ensuing silence, Kin locks his gaze on Pong, who has an unreadable expression on his face.

"I miss you too, Kin," Pong finally says before releasing another sigh. "Oh what the hell. It's not like this was working out for me anyways," he mutters faintly, his voice so quiet that Kin's not sure if he caught all his words.

"What?"

Instead of repeating himself, Pong just walks over to one of the beds. "Let me just pack my stuff and then we can head back to our room together," he says while grabbing his backpack. 

"Okay!" Kin agrees in a second flat, not wanting to give Pong a chance to even think about changing his mind. "Do you need help packing?" he asks enthusiastically.

His initial surprise at Kin's loud reaction dissipating, Pong throws him an amused look. "I think I can manage," he says before making his way over to the bathroom. 

Relief floods through Kin. He's pretty sure that he's grinning like an idiot, but he's too goddamn happy to care. They're going back to the way things were, which means that Pong's coming back into his life. _Finally._

Pong glances over at him and smiles back, making Kin's entire soul dance in joy.

All feels right in his world again.

***

Kin ignores that he has a problem.

Ever since he got back on good terms with Pong, he's been thinking hard about what he should do going forward. After hours and hours of musing, Kin concludes that he still feels so terrible for hurting Pong and wants to make up for being such a lousy friend, even if it's at the expense of his own selfish happiness.

That explains why he's currently sitting with Valen in the break room after making sure that no else is in the vicinity. Kin really doesn't need anyone snooping around and eavesdropping on a conversation that's probably going to be brutal for him. Or, more like, exceedingly brutal.

Kin inhales a shaky breath. From this moment on, he plans to step down from being the brokenhearted lead hero in his pathetic one-sided melodrama to playing a supporting role in Pong and Valen's potential heart-fluttering romance.

"What did you want to talk about?" Valen asks with a gentle smile.

Nervously, Kin prepares to immerse himself in his new role. It's not really easy, though, when his bitter heart refuses to be shoved to the sidelines. Not able to make the complete transition, Kin allows his heart to take over, just for the next few seconds. It immediately directs him to glare at Valen and wonder what Pong sees in him. 

Well, yeah, the guy's quite physically attractive with his handsome looks and well-toned muscles. Come to think of it, his personality is great too. As well as being friendly, Valen radiates this gentlemanly charisma that makes people swoon over him. He's also incredibly smart and sophisticated, even being fluent in English from his studies in Boston. On top of that, as the only nephew of the hotel's owner, he has a successful future pretty much laid out for him.

Kin deflates.

_Fuck, the guy's perfect._

Valen eventually interrupts his brooding. "Is something wrong, Kin?" he asks, looking a little uncomfortable and concerned by Kin's behavior.

Feeling defeated, Kin slumps his shoulders. Now that he basically confirmed to himself how he freaking pales in comparison to Valen, it's a little easier to execute his plan. 

"Valen, I'm going to ask you a question and I need you to give me an honest answer," Kin starts out, putting on a serious expression.

Although he still seems bewildered, Valen nods. "Okay."

"Are you going out with Nook?"

Valen looks taken aback by the abrupt question. "What? No! We're just friends," he denies right away.

"But you like her," Kin pushes, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, as a friend," Valen says, gradually returning back to his calm demeanor. "Look, to be honest, we did start going down that route at a certain point in our relationship. But after thinking about it, we ended up deciding that we want to stay as friends."

Kin intently studies Valen's features, hoping to detect any signs of dishonesty. It really looks like Valen is telling the truth, though, which means that one of Kin's escape routes out of this situation (aka the ' _I tried but it turns out that Valen and Nook are each other's soulmates and come on I can't mess with DESTINY_ ') has effectively been cut off. 

Unfortunately for him, this also means that it's time to proceed with the next step of his plan.

"Okay then, what about Pong?" Kin asks, trying not to sound resentful.

Valen shoots him a very confused look. "What about him?"

Kin picks his next words carefully. "You're working with him in the same department, but I haven't seen you guys hang out."

"Oh yeah," Valen says while scratching his head sheepishly. "I don't know why, but it's kinda hard to get close to him."

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Want to get close to him."

"Yeah, of course!" Valen says. "He seems cool."

_Seems cool?!_

Kin can't help but feel a little offended at that bland descriptor. Pong doesn't just seem cool, but he is cool. Actually, no, Pong is way more than cool. In fact, Kin has a working theory that Pong might actually be a majestic celestial being who's graciously blessing this planet with his lovely presence. Case in point, those precious dimples of his just cannot be from this world. 

"He is cool," Kin confirms, barely stopping himself from providing his further thoughts on the matter. 

"Yeah?"

Kin detects a shy smile forming on Valen's lips, and he momentarily freezes when the implications of it sink in. 

_Is Valen blushing while thinking about Pong?!_

Against his will, Kin's mind flashes back to the image of Pong and his bashful face when he talked about Valen, similar to the expression that he's seeing on Valen right now, and the pain violently attacks him all over again. This time, though, it stings even more because it turns out that there is a real chance for Pong to be happy with Valen, and now that he knows, Kin can't back out anymore. 

He really has to be their fucking matchmaker. 

"Well, Pong and I were planning to get dinner tonight," Kin says, attempting to rein in his swelling heartache. "Do you want to join us?"

Valen lights up in a flash. "Sure, that'd be great! But you guys won't mind if I join?" 

Kin forces out a smile that he hopes looks real. "Of course not. I want you guys to hang out more. I think...you and Pong just haven't gotten a chance to spend enough time together. But, once you do, I'm sure you guys would get along. And, you know, get closer." 

Imagining that actually happening destroys him, but he frantically thinks of Pong smiling, Pong laughing and Pong essentially looking like he's the happiest person in the world. Although his heartache doesn't at all disappear and probably won't anytime soon, those thoughts of Pong make it feel like he can live with it. 

***


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Kin accepts that he has a problem.

It's the very best that he could do in his current dire circumstances. Kin figures that, as long as he exists in this world, he'll be in love with Pong. Or, actually, maybe even longer than that. So his real issue, then, should be working out how to coexist with his problem in a way that's relatively peaceful for everyone and hopefully makes Pong the happiest.

A pang of bitterness hits him at the thought of Pong, who is probably having the time of his life with Valen right now. It's extremely stupid because he's the one who set up their date tonight, but Kin just can't stop himself from feeling hurt.

Kin shifts his attention to his phone and stares at it for a while, feeling a little tempted to turn it back on.

About an hour ago, he sent a text to both Pong and Valen stating that he might be coming down with something and therefore would have to miss their dinner appointment. It was obviously a lie and his rather lame attempt to leave the budding couple to themselves.

After replying back to Valen's immediately following texts of worry with a confirmation that he was okay and that Valen should have dinner with Pong without him, Kin waited a bit to see how Pong would respond. When Pong didn't come back with anything, he decided to turn his phone off. He was pretty sure that he didn't want to see any reaction from Pong that would hint at his excitement for Kin being out of the picture in his date with Valen.

Yeah, he's still pretty sure that he doesn't ever want to see that.

Carelessly tossing his phone back on his nightstand, Kin eventually lays down on his side to face the bed next to his. It's empty, which is a word that also describes how Kin feels inside right now.

_Empty._

The gaping hole in his heart keeps on expanding, threatening to swallow him up whole, but he's too exhausted to fight it. 

He misses Pong.

He imagines Pong laying in the same position on his own bed but facing Kin, gazing at him with a beautiful smile gracing his lips. Kin helplessly smiles back, wishing that what he's seeing is real, that Pong is actually right here with him and not with Valen.

He misses Pong.

He misses Pong so fucking much, and the fact that Pong probably isn't even thinking about him at the moment kills him.

With that, his tears begin to fall, more and more, faster and faster with each passing second. Kin angrily wipes them away until he realizes that they're not going to stop anytime soon, and, hell, he's likely going to be in this room by himself for who knows how long so it really doesn't matter if he spends all his alone time crying his eyes out. 

So Kin gets ready to do just that.

What he doesn't expect, though, is the door to suddenly burst open and bring an end to his session of ugly sobbing.

"Kin!"

Bolting up into a gawky sitting position, Kin jerks his head towards the wide open door.

"Pong?"

The sight of Pong rushing towards him, his entire face creased by a worried frown, wipes out every thought in Kin's head. Shocked to the core, Kin stupidly gapes at Pong, unable to take his eyes off of him for even a split second.

"Damn it, Kin!" Pong curses loudly as soon as he reaches Kin. "Why weren't you answering your phone? Do you know how freaking worried I was?!"

Kin still can't figure out how to put words together. Seemingly unaffected by Kin's inability to speak, Pong immediately searches over Kin's features, and his eyes nearly pop out of his head.

"Are you crying?! Is it that bad?! Should I take you to the hospital?!"

Watching Pong spiraling in panic finally snaps Kin back to his senses. "Calm down, Pong," he manages to say. "I'm fine."

"But you're crying," Pong points out, not looking at all convinced.

Embarrassment assaults Kin when he realizes that Pong's right and that he probably looks like a hideous mess right now.

"I'm not...this isn't..." Kin stammers while roughly rubbing at his face, attempting to clean off all his snotty tears.

His breath hitches when, all of a sudden, he feels Pong's fingers catching his hands and pulling them down. With a softened gaze, Pong replaces Kin's hands with his own, gently brushing the tears off of Kin's face.

Pong's sweet actions break him down even more.

"What are you doing here?" Kin asks in between sniffles. "What about Valen?"

"I was worried about you," Pong simply says, still focused on wiping away Kin's tears.

Kin bites his lips, wishing that the moment would last a little longer. He foolishly considers keeping up the lie and pretending to be sick so that Pong can continue to stay with him. Against the desperate pleads of his heart, though, Kin ultimately decides to tell the truth.

"You don't have to worry," Kin quietly confesses. "I'm okay. I was lying about being sick."

Removing his fingers from Kin's face, Pong gapes at him, looking very confused. "What? Why would you do that?"

Kin inhales a sharp breath. "I thought it'd be a good excuse that would let you and Valen spend time together. I guess it would have been better if I told you in advance, but it's not too late. You should go back to Valen right now and have dinner with him."

"What?" Pong asks, bewilderment deepening on his features.

"I'm trying to help you."

"What are you talking about?"

Kin swallows back a frustrated sigh. "You and Valen."

"What does that even..." Pong begins to question again before understanding visibly dawns on his face. "You were trying to set me up with Valen?"

Kin nods. "Yeah."

Trying to conceal his growing bitterness, Kin braces himself for the impending blow, guessing that Pong will probably react in a way that will crush his heart. Maybe Pong will give him an embarrassed smile or a quick thank you, but Kin's pretty sure that, ultimately, Pong will end up leaving him and rushing off to Valen.

To his utmost surprise, though, Pong does absolutely none of what Kin predicts.

"You're such an asshole!" Pong yelps, rage dripping from his voice.

Kin blinks, completely thrown off by Pong's heated reaction. "What?"

Pong glares at him as he continues his furious outburst. "How could you do that?! Who the fuck gave you the right to do that?!"

"I was just trying to help!" Kin counters, still perplexed.

An expression of disbelief crosses Pong's face. "How is that helping?! You really thought that I'd be okay with that?!" 

"Well yeah!" Kin says, raising his voice. 

He feels a little bit of anger bubbling up inside of him, and he tries to quash it. The last thing that he wants is a fight with Pong, especially when he doesn't even know why Pong is so outraged. 

"I talked to Valen earlier, and I think things might actually work out between you two. He even told me that he wants to get close to you."

"So what?!" Pong says, looking completely unimpressed by Kin's explanation. "Seriously, what the fuck, Kin?! I can't believe you would do this!"

"Why are you so pissed off?! When I just...I just wanted to make you happy!" Kin explodes, his emotions starting to get the better of him. "When I said that it won't work out, part of the reason was because I thought Valen might have a thing for Nook. But he doesn't and they're just friends, and, you know, that means you still have a chance."

"A chance?" Pong echoes back while crumpling up his face.

"Yeah, a chance to be with Valen!" Kin yells, unable to keep the resentment from seeping into his voice. "I thought you'd die for a chance to be with the person you like!"

In the following tense silence that drops over them, Pong just proceeds to stare at Kin, with a million different emotions running across his features. Kin wordlessly stares back, still wondering what the hell went wrong, until he notices the tension draining out of Pong's body.

"You're an idiot," Pong whispers, breaking the quiet.

Kin now feels a little offended. "What?!"

"This whole time, you thought I had feelings for Valen?" Pong says in a louder volume. "How the fuck did you reach that conclusion?!"

Kin stiffens. "Well, I overheard you telling Akk that Valen's pretty cute..." he mumbles while his brain wildly churns to make sense of the situation.

_What the fuck is going on?!_

"You were eavesdropping on our conversation?!" Pong irritably shouts before his disappointed expression changes to a confused one. "Wait, but how did you...oh my god, don't tell me that you just stopped listening after I said that."

"Uhh...yeah, maybe," Kin hesitantly admits. 

Kin winces at Pong's subsequent scowl. He's starting to get a really bad feeling about all of this, the kind that attacks him whenever he's about to find out that he made some huge mistake.

Looking like he's grown a pounding headache, Pong releases an exasperated sigh. "You idiot. If you were going to spy on us, then you should have stayed to hear the whole thing. I told Akk that Valen's pretty cute, but that I already have someone else in my heart."

"What?"

Pong falters for a brief moment, his dark brown eyes wavering as they meet Kin's. 

"You. I told Akk that I'm in love with you."

The abrupt confession knocks the air out of Kin's lungs. 

"Me?"

"Yeah, you."

"Oh." Kin pauses for another minute or so, trying to let everything sink in but failing. "Wait...me?!"

"Yes, you!" Pong snaps, a hint of frustration evident in his voice, before sighing once more. "Kin, it was always you. I've been in love with you for the longest time and...and I thought I was being so obvious..." he trails off while darting his eyes away.

"No, you weren't. I...I really didn't know and..." Kin babbles aimlessly, still unable to fully process what is going on, until he catches Pong beginning to move away from him. "Where are you going?"

"This whole thing is a mess, and I just...I need some space to think," Pong says, sounding lost and tired at the same time.

Kin feels like he's trapped in a state of massive chaos. As much as he wants to celebrate like crazy because it turns out that Pong loves him, he also wants to repeatedly kick his own ass for screwing everything up and causing unnecessary drama for them both.

This entire time, Pong has been in love with him, but, like the complete dumbass he is, he mistakenly believed that Pong had feelings for Valen after shamelessly eavesdropping on him, unintentionally rejected Pong when he mustered up the courage to confess to him, and even tried to set Pong up with someone else and...HOLY SHIT! 

It's a miracle if Pong still loves him after all of that.

Kin panics. 

"Wait!" Kin yelps as he frantically scrambles out of his bed.

Before Pong could back away even further, Kin shoots towards him and captures him entirely in his arms. He clings onto Pong as if his life depends on it, and, in fact, it does. It really does, and he needs to do everything that he can to save himself from being eternally condemned to a life without Pong.

Handing over the reins to his heart, Kin opens his mouth and pours out all of his truth that he locked up inside.

"Pong, I'm in love with you too. For I don't even know how long but it happened at some point, probably since the moment I met you, and I can't stop it because, fuck, it's you and it's impossible to stop loving you. And I was hurting this whole time because I thought you were in love with Valen and I know that I don't even stand a chance against him because he's a freaking Mr. Perfect, but I still wished that you loved me back and that's why I was crying just now...and...and...I'm so sorry for being such a fucking idiot but I love you so much and I can't believe that you like me too and oh my god please don't change your mind because I happen to be the biggest idiot of all time..."

"Hey," Pong cuts him off. "Breathe, Kin. Breathe."

It's at that point when Kin realizes that in the process of pouring everything out, he's forgotten to breathe and is literally on the verge of death. He feels Pong rubbing circles on his back as he desperately tries to collect his breath.

"This isn't a dream, right?" Kin asks once he's able to speak again.

"No, it's not," Pong says.

"Thank god," Kin whispers, feeling waves of relief flooding over him, and he tightens his arms around Pong. "And you're not going to change your mind about me?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm an idiot and I just gave you the worst love confession ever."

Kin cringes as he thinks of the word vomit that erupted out of his mouth just now, which definitely isn't anything even remotely close to cool or romantic. He perks up a little when he hears Pong let out a small giggle.

"I don't think my heart cares," Pong softly confesses. "It loves you all the same."

_Pong still loves him._

It's a miracle, the greatest one that's ever been granted to him, and he feels like crying all over again. _  
_

Finally relaxing, Kin buries his face into the nook of Pong's neck. A sense of blissful contentment permeates in him when he feels Pong's fingers gently raking through his hair. 

"And I guess I'm an idiot too," Pong adds rather sheepishly. "We're both idiots that really need to work on our communication skills."

Kin laughs. "Yeah, we should work on that, especially me," he agrees as he clutches Pong closer, not wanting to ever let go of him. 

***

Kin doesn't care that he has a problem.

Well, it doesn't even seem like a real problem for him anymore, not since he found out that Pong miraculously loves him back. If it is still considered to be a problem, though, he'll willingly cherish it for the rest of time, as long as Pong is right by his side like he is now.

Kin squeezes the warm hand intertwined with his, and he feels like he's on the top of the world when Pong squeezes back affectionately, his precious dimpled smile aimed straight at him.

They're currently walking back to their room together after finishing their long work shifts for the day. It's quite dark outside given the late hour, but the illuminating lights from the hotel offer them enough visibility for their trek back. To be honest, Kin might be a little frightened by the dim surroundings if he were alone right now, but Pong's presence beside him lifts his spirits up so freaking high that not even a sudden ghost appearance could bring them down.

It's true when they say that love makes you fearless. 

Kin glances at the hotel's swimming pool that they're passing by, and he feels a smile tugging on his lips as he recalls a particular memory of them here.

It was during their first week of the internship, at a time when he and Pong were still getting to know each other. Their random small talk led them to gaze up at the night sky until they coincidentally met eyes at the same time, as if they were reenacting a scene from some cheesy romantic movie.

As much as he found the entire situation hilarious, Kin also strangely felt a little breathless as he stared into Pong's widened eyes. He kept thinking that Pong was cute, even more so up close, until he finally realized that he unconsciously leaned in much more than he originally planned. With their faces only a couple of inches apart, Kin ended up making some lame joke about being a falling star, which earned him an adorably flustered expression from Pong that made it completely worth it.

Ironically, the joke's on him now. Kin's not the falling star. Pong is, and he's blinding Kin with all his beautiful shining glory, but Kin doesn't mind at all. 

"What are you laughing about?" Pong asks, breaking Kin away from his sappy thoughts.

"I was just thinking about the last time that we were at this spot together," Kin says with a grin. "When we promised to help each other win the internship. Remember?"

"Of course I do," Pong says, returning back a fond smile. "I think that's when I realized that I fell for you."

Surprised by the sudden revelation, Kin stops his steps and turns around to fully face Pong. "Yeah?" 

"Yeah," Pong confirms, following suit and meeting Kin's gaze. "Before we made that promise, you leaned in and stared into my eyes before saying some dumb shit about being a falling star. And I couldn't stop thinking wow this guy's so freaking weird but why the hell do I still want to kiss him?"

Kin's heart skips a beat, and his eyes flicker down to Pong's lips before looking back up. "Does that thought still hold?" 

"The thought about you being so freaking weird?" Pong asks, the teasing in his tone revealing that he's playing dumb.

"No," Kin says with a nervous chuckle. "The one about you still wanting to kiss me despite that."

Pong tilts his head slightly to the side, his gaze deepening as it remains locked with Kin's. "Isn't it obvious?"

Kin swallows as he watches Pong's lips curve in a way that makes him aching to taste him. He holds back, though, despite knowing that he's not going to last very long. 

"Maybe," Kin says. "But you did say that we needed to work on our communication and I don't want to mess anything up again so..."

Pong shoots him an annoyed look that doesn't quite have a full effect because he's also smiling at the same time. "Kin, just shut up and kiss me."

Kin doesn't need to be ordered twice. 

He dips in and starts with a light kiss, a gentle pressing of the lips together. Pong is so warm and soft, much more than he ever imagined that he's left with unfulfilled want. Feeling needier by the second, Kin pushes forward and deepens their kiss, wrapping an arm around Pong's waist to bring him closer. He feels Pong's fingertips running along the back of his shoulder blades, and he opens his mouth wider, reveling in the way Pong shivers as he lets him take what he wants.

They pull apart, their eyes slowly fluttering open. Pong is staring back at him without a word, but the look on his beautifully flushed face says enough, confirming that they're thinking the same thing. 

With a smile, Kin dives in to capture his sweet lips once more. 

***


End file.
